


Love, Your Idiot

by chemicalroses



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: AU, Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gratsu - Freeform, Hugging, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Mentions of other ships, Some angst, They're giant dorks, au's, every genre, just kidding there will be lots of angst, lots of different au's, mainly gratsu though, no specific storyline, pretty much all gratsu, stingue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-03-28 23:09:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 14,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3873310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chemicalroses/pseuds/chemicalroses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>.</p><p>I hate you because your smile is blinding and your eyes shine like fucking stars.</p><p>[Collection of Gratsu AU's and one-shots]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Job [One-Shot]

**Author's Note:**

> Summary:
> 
> Gray's hot, tired, and impatient. Add Natsu to that mix, and we have a train station fic. 
> 
> Feel free to leave comments and suggestions for AU's!

It’s not like they had planned it, running into each other before a mission. It was a strange coincidence.  Normally before team Natsu went on a job they all gathered at Lucy’s house to prepare. Solo missions, like the title implied, were prepped for and carried out by one _alone_. Therefore, when Gray picked out a one-man required job form, he had expected to do just that. Be _alone_ for a few days, without any interruptions.

He had been sitting in front of the vending machines near the train tracks, occupying himself by staring at the large clock ticking loudly from the other side of the gap. The train was a few minutes late, but Gray wasn’t at all fazed by it—a late ride was better than having to walk, especially when it was a thousand degrees outside and the thin tee shirt he was wearing was starting to become a nuisance.  It was barely even four in the morning, and it was _this_ _hot_. Gray couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like in the middle of the day. Hell, he didn’t _want_ to imagine it.

Right when the ice mage was about to make a mental list of everything he hated about summer, he felt a warm hand press against his shoulder.

“Gray?”

“Wha…?!” Gray flinched and turned around quickly to see a very confused dragon slayer standing behind him.

“What are you doing here?” The pinket asked quietly, moving to sit next to the mage.

“What are _you_ doing here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

Natsu shook his head sharply, still looking rather confused.

“I have a job today, of course not.”

Gray let out a small “ _oh_ ,” of realization. He was disappointed in himself; he should’ve been able to guess that based on the travel bag hanging off of Natsu’s shoulders and the crumpled job flyer he was holding. In Gray’s defense, it was basically three in the morning and his brain was still quite asleep, especially since he had stayed up late working on new training techniques.

“What are you doing here?” Natsu asked again. Gray did his best to keep his eyes from drooping as he answered:

“I’ve got a job, too.”

Natsu cocked an eyebrow. Gray mimicked the action.

“What’s your job?” The dragon slayer moved to unfold the wad of paper in his hands so the job title was readable, “mine looks pretty cool, all I have to do is catch some guy who’s been robbing banks on the east side of Fiore.”

This caught Gray’s attention—not only because the summary of the job sounded very familiar to him, but also because the flyer Natsu was holding was _identical_ to the one he had picked up the night before.

“Wait, no,” Gray fumbled to retrieve the paper from his pocket, “that’s _my_ job, not yours,”

Natsu’s bright eyes widened as he read the text over on Gray’s sheet, then on his, and then Gray’s again.

“There has to be some kind of mistake, Mira never lets two of the same flyers go to different solo wizards,” Natsu remarked, shrugging the travel bag off of his shoulders so he was more comfortable. Gray nodded.

“Yeah, but she has been really distracted lately, with all of the summer party plans going into action. It was probably just an accident.”

They were quiet for a while, mulling over all of the different ways this scenario could end.

“So what should we do? Should one of us go home?” Natsu looked over at Gray, whose tired blue eyes had already been gazing at him.

“If you think that’s best, than I guess so. I just don’t see why it’s that big of a deal for us to go together.” He supposed.

“I thought you took a solo mission because you wanted to be alone,” Natsu thought aloud, looking up at the sliver of a moon sinking in the sky.

“Well, yeah, but so did you, right?” Gray shrugged, “Plus, we’ll probably work faster as a team. Then I can go back to sleep.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I just said so like twenty times,” He groaned, squirming around in the thin fabric of his shirt, “Ugh, it is fucking _hot_! Where the hell is the train?”

Natsu laughed a little. He found it amusing how much Gray complained when he was tired. It was almost like the mage had two different personalities.

“It’s not so bad,” the slayer grinned. Gray sent him a death glare.

“Says the guy who _eats_ _fire_ and is wearing a _scarf_. I literally have no idea how you’re alive right now without air conditioning.”

His complaints were cut short as he began to hear a deep rumbling noise coming from his left. It grew louder and louder until a train _finally_ came into sight, making the ice mage gasp with delight.

“Yes,” He cheered, stepping into the cool interior of the train and turning back around to face Natsu. “You coming?”

The slayer’s grin widened.

“Yeah, without me you’ll die of heat stroke.”

Gray smirked.

“Well without me, you’d die of motion sickness.”

“Touché,” Natsu laughed.


	2. Soccer AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu enjoys people watching.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this counts as a soccer AU...

Natsu enjoyed people watching.

To him, witnessing the candid actions of others was just as entertaining as watching a baseball game. Normally he’d begin observing people subconsciously, by spacing out while accidentally staring at someone. However, there were cases where he’d go out of his way to watch someone in particular.

These cases almost always involved Gray Fullbuster.

Gray had been one of Natsu’s first interests. They had never met personally, with Natsu being a year younger than him and all, but that didn’t mean Natsu didn’t know anything about him. He had gotten a soccer scholarship to attend school, he lived alone, he didn’t have a girlfriend, and he was _hot as fuck_. His dark fringe and light eyes alone intrigued Natsu to no end, not to mention his clear pale skin, amazing muscles, and raspy voice.

To say that Natsu had a crush on him was a bit of an understatement.

The pink haired boy was unable to really get close to Gray, because of how goddamn _popular_ the soccer star was around campus.  He must’ve had about seven or eight people constantly following him everywhere he went, and Natsu was never able to even talk to him without being interrupted or pushed. He had tried a few times over the year, but every time, someone would steal Gray’s attention before Natsu even had a chance to be acknowledged.

So, he settled for just _watching_ him instead of joining his very violent fan-club. It wasn’t stalking, since he was never creepy about it; sometimes he’d just “ _accidentally_ ” find himself buying and drinking a soda next to the soccer field at the exact time Gray’s practice started. No one ever saw him since he hid out near the vending machines, which was the one place Gray’s friends avoided. Apparently the spot was “too far away” to watch the practice, but Natsu disagreed. To him, it was perfect for being inconspicuous—or so he thought.

“One more lap, don’t give up now, you lazy brats!”

The teams coach, Makarov, had been yelling at the players when it happened. Gray had been running laps around the field, sweat beading on his forehead and arms, when he decided to look just a little bit too far to the right—where Natsu stood.

The two made eye contact.

Natsu thought he was going to die, because Gray _didn’t look away_ until the coach snapped at him to pay attention to the field and where he was going. The younger boy forgot to breathe, and only remembered how when Gray was a safe distance away. He did a double take as soon as air filled his burning lungs, and instantly regretted showing up at the field that day. Gray probably thought he was some creepy guy who spied on the soccer team 24/7 (which wasn’t that accurate, he only watched them once or twice a week), and the facial expression Natsu pulled when their eyes connected had probably been the weirdest, ugliest one in all of existence.

Natsu spent the rest of that soccer practice sitting on a bench, resting his head in his hands, and re-evaluating all of his life choices. He was _mortified_ , to say the least. The only thing that shook him out of his self-induced regret coma was a familiar voice saying his name.

“It’s Natsu, right?”

The only thing Natsu could do at that moment was pray to god he was dreaming, because Gray Fullbuster couldn’t really be talking to _him_ , alone, wearing nothing but a slightly see through soccer jersey and sweat pants, expecting Natsu to come up with something to say. Much to his disbelief, when he looked up and saw the should-be model, he came to the conclusion that the Gray standing in front of him was, in fact, real.

“Y-yeah, I’m Natsu,” He managed to choke out. Gray let out a relieved laugh, and Natsu had to try very hard not to pass out. He couldn’t focus on making conversation when all he could do was stare at his perfect white teeth and biceps and deep blue eyes that were much prettier up close and _holy shit is that a dimple—_

“Oh, good,” Gray snapped him back to reality again, “I thought so. I heard a few people call you that around campus, so I just wanted to make sure.”

“You’re Gray, right?” Natsu asked, as if he didn’t already know.

“Yep,” He smiled wider, “so, what are you doing near the field? You could’ve watched practice from the bleachers, you know.”

Natsu’s insides turned to mush when Gray decided to sit next to him on the bench. He smelled like sweat and deodorant, but Natsu could detect a bit of his natural scent along with it: pine needles and snow.

“I know. Sometimes I just like walking around here to clear my head and buy a soda or something. It’s quiet, sort of like my private thinking area.” It wasn’t all a lie; he did like how peaceful the place was. Gray seemed to buy all of the other excuses.

“Must be nice,” He commented, “We’ve never really talked before, have we?”

Natsu was more than prepared to scream “NO” and explain how annoying some of his friends were, but since his complaints would probably scare the athlete away, he settled for a more polite response.

“No, we haven’t. You’re a pretty popular guy,” He sighed, “and your fan-club can get a bit… intense.”

A beautiful laugh escaped Gray’s lips.

“You’re funny,” He said, “I don’t actually have a fan-club, you know. Most of the people I hang out with don’t even know me, so I don’t know why they keep following me places.”

Natsu had to gawk at this statement.

“It’s because you’re insanely hot,”

The words slipped out of his mouth without a second thought, and Natsu cursed at himself for being such an idiot. Gray would probably stand up, make a lame excuse to leave, and then never speak to him again, all because _Natsu didn’t have a filter._

However, after a few awkward seconds, a dark blush appeared on Gray’s face.

“You’re not bad yourself,” He mumbled, barley suppressing a smile. “You distracted me during practice today. I was surprised you were here.”

“I show up from time to time,” Natsu bit his lip so that he wouldn’t start giggling with excitement. His heart was already beating a mile a minute and his stomach was doing backflips, so embarrassing himself any more than he already had would not be wise.

“When’s your next visit?” Gray asked. If Natsu wasn’t drunk off of happiness, he’d think Gray was acting timid. Did he think Natsu would judge him or something? Was Gray _shy_ around him?

“I don’t know yet, probably the next time I need to think.” He shrugged.

“Do you mind if… next time… I join you? While you think? I wouldn’t be a bother, it’s just that sometimes I need some air, and I thought that maybe you’d enjoy the company. I totally understand if you want to be alone, I can be too forwards sometimes, but you just seem really nice and funny and…” He stopped and ran a hand through his shaggy hair, “Sorry, I’m… I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

Natsu didn’t even know what to say. Gray Fullbuster, this beautiful guy was way out of his league, was damn _cute_. He was _so_ cute that Natsu had to physically restrain himself from hugging the athlete until he exploded.

“Y-yeah, of course!” Natsu exclaimed, smiling so widely that his cheeks were starting to burn.

“Really? Great!” Gray sighed. He pulled out a thin white iPhone and quickly unlocked it, handing it to the younger boy.

“Here, you can put your number in here. I’ll text you so that you have mine,”

Natsu took it and typed in his number, checking it a few times to make sure his shaking hands didn’t accidently press the wrong keys.

“Here,” He handed it back to the older boy, who retrieved it without hesitation.

“Thanks, I’ll text you as soon as I get back to my dorm,” Gray stuffed it into his pocket and shot him another cheeky smile. Natsu wanted to kiss him.

“I’ll be waiting for it,”

Gray left soon after that, saying something about how he needed to shower. Natsu began walking to his own dorm too. He made sure to turn his ringer volume up as high as it could possibly go. His phone alert “pinged” about two seconds after, and he rushed to retrieve it from his back pocket without spilling his soda.

**Hey, it’s Gray**

Natsu wanted to scream.

**_That was fast, are you back at your dorm already?_ **

**Not yet**

**_Liar! What happened to waiting until you got back to text me?_ **

**Sorry! I guess I couldn’t wait that long**

Natsu typed in his response before putting his phone back into his pocket, and then he broke out in a happy dance. He practically skipped the rest of the way back to his dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment AU requests! I will update this story very often.


	3. Rain [One Shot]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Natsu says "I love you" for the first time, and Gray doesn't let himself say it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first angst chapter! Sorry it's sort of short...

Natsu hates rain.

He hates the sound of thunder and the crack of lightning. He hates dark clouds. He even hates puddles left scattered over pavements in the aftermath, and how the water smells when it evaporates under the hot sun. People ask him why he despises this kind of weather, because _they_  think the falling water sounds like music, and that lightning is morbidly beautiful. Natsu had only one justifiable reason.

It had been raining when Gray left.

Not drizzling, or thundering, just _raining_. It was the kind of rain that soaked him in seconds and got under his skin, so that even after showering he still felt it; the kind of rain that sucked the life out of him until he couldn’t stand. The kind of rain that went perfectly with Gray’s pained words.

_“I have to get out of here,”_

They had been rushed and quiet, muffled by the deafening sound of water smacking onto the concrete. Natsu had imagined this scenario happening a million times, but he never thought it would become a reality. He knew Gray was sad. He knew Gray was scared. He knew _Gray_ , as a _whole_ , which was why Natsu didn’t understand any of this.

_“Where are you going?”_

_“I don’t know, I just need to go,”_

All Natsu could do was watch him through the thick rainfall—the beautiful, broken man with the dark eyes and the trembling hands. He knew those hands. He knew those eyes. He knew _him_. So _why_ , he kept asking himself, _why is he so scared?_

The dread and belief started pooling in Natsu’s stomach as soon as he realized that Gray was turning around, away from him and everything they had, towards the empty path ahead. Natsu wanted to scream, he wanted to run after him and tell him to stop being crazy, that he was just _scared_ and that they could work through this. He wanted to get out of the rain.

He wanted to apologize for saying _"I love you"_ so suddenly, when he knew that Gray wouldn't be able to handle it. 

He didn’t do any of these things.

_“Don’t go, please, please stay,”_

The weak plead was lost in the noise. Gray didn’t stay.

After that it was just Natsu, alone on his knees, in the dark. Raindrops felt like bullets piercing his skin, and he was freezing, shocked and completely _empty_ because the one thing in his life he thought he could rely on had rejected him.

All he could do was clutch the tee shirt he was wearing, the over-sized black one Gray normally wore to bed, and pray that he would come back. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment requests for AU's! I will update this story frequently.


	4. Alone [One-Shot]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu is sad. Gray tries to cheer him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is short! I really wanted to write hurt/comfort, so prepare for fluff!

Gray was one of the only people who understood Natsu. He didn’t just “know” him, like some of the other guild members did. He saw and heard things from the dragon slayer that _they_ never would, like the sound of his even breathing when he slept, or the way his hair looked when he woke up. They would never see the way his eyes glazed over and trembled when he was upset, or hear his voice crack when he cried.

Natsu only let Gray see that part of him.

Natsu made himself seem like an open book in front of the people he knew. He’d throw on a smile every day, no matter what was happening. The world could be melting and crumbling all around him, and he’d still make other people his top priority. For the longest time, Gray had thought that Natsu was sincere in his actions and that he acted the same even behind closed doors.

He still remembered the day when he realized he was wrong.

It was the week before the anniversary of Igneel’s death, and the dragon slayer had refused to go the guild.

“Why not?” Gray asked as he followed Natsu into their kitchen, “Normally you’re there all the time, hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if you started living behind the bar.”

“I just don’t, okay?” Natsu’s voice sounded tired. He opened the fridge and grabbed a container of leftover pizza from the night before.

“But why?”

“I don’t know, I just don’t feel like going,”  

Gray watched as the younger boy started the microwave and leaned back against the fridge, rubbing his temples and letting out a small groan.

“Natsu, what is it?” Gray asked gently.

“Nothing,”

He was obviously lying, Gray could tell that much, but it was still a mystery as to _what_ was wrong. He had seen him angry and upset, but this seemed like Natsu was just plain _sad_.

“Is it Ign—“

“Gray, I don’t want to talk about it.” The sudden harsh words made Gray flinch. Natsu was also shocked, because as soon as they slipped out he immediately went to correct them.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… I just don’t feel good.” He rushed to explain, a dark blush coating his cheeks. 

“No, it’s okay,” Gray smiled weakly, “I just want to know what’s bothering you.”

Natsu didn’t respond. His shoulders tensed and his head dropped down so he was looking at the floor. If Gray didn’t already get the sense that Natsu didn’t want to talk, he certainly did now.

“I already told you, I don’t feel good,”

His voice grew softer and softer as he spoke, and it was scary how vulnerable he was in this moment. Gray felt panic shoot through him as he realized that Natsu was shaking and losing his balance, his strong arm giving up its hold on the fridge handle.

“H-hey,” Gray ran to meet him halfway on his trip to the floor, and caught him with one arm around both of his shoulders.

“’M tired,”

“When was the last time you slept?”

“Two nights ago… maybe the night before that…” He blinked sleepily in Gray’s arms, and the ice mage became even more confused—how the fuck did he not realize how upset Natsu was until now?

“Okay, okay, come on,” He gradually lifted the slayer up so that he could assist him in walking to the couch.

“Sorry,” Natsu whimpered as he was placed onto the piece of furniture.

“Don’t be sorry, you just need to rest now,” Gray ran a hand through his pink hair. There was a moment of silence, and then Natsu let out a loud, shaky sigh.

“You’re right,” He whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Igneel, he’s what’s bothering me.”

“I thought so,” Gray nodded, still grazing the other’s scalp. He got the sense that Natsu enjoyed it based on the way he kept leaning into the touch.

“I’ll tell you about it later.” He yawned.

“Okay.”

Gray stayed with him until he fell asleep. No one would ever see Natsu like this—defenseless and trusting.

Those parts of him were only for Gray to see.


	5. Out [One-Shot]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray and Natsu tell their friends that they're dating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Natsu is forgetful and Gray is a spazz

“We’re dating,”

It had been a spontaneous decision; to out themselves on a random Tuesday in the middle of the guild hall, in front of everyone they knew. They hadn’t planned it. In fact, they were set on making it as subtle as possible, by telling their close friends first so that it’d soften the blow.

 Obviously, _that_ plan had been scrapped the second Natsu had opened his mouth.

He supposed it was his fault, in the end, for the quick change in strategy. The guild members were already suspicious of them, because the two had subconsciously started sitting closer together and leaving every night at the same time. Once, Lucy had even caught them holding hands under the table. Like these stupid mistakes, the trigger for Natsu’s slip of the tongue could’ve easily been avoided; he could’ve woken up five minutes earlier and remembered to change out of Gray’s tee shirt. He didn’t realize he was wearing it at first, since he had pulled on a sweatshirt that morning, but then Gajeel showed up.

“Hey, Natsu,” The iron slayer called from the other side of the room, “why do you smell like the stripper idiot today?”

Gray, who was sitting next to Natsu, deadpanned. Natsu was normally really good at hiding his scent, since he _knew_ how well the other slayers could smell.

“What?”

“You smell like Gray, stupid.”

“No, Gray is sitting next to me. You just smell _him_.”

“Wait a second…”

The tall, black haired mage stood up off of his stool and began walking over, having noticed a familiar yet strange piece of fabric poking out in between the collar of Natsu’s sweater and scarf.

“Gajeel, what the f— _hey_!”

“Is this _your_ shirt?” He asked the ice mage as he lifted up the red sweater, revealing the frayed black tee shirt Gray wore often. The man in question began choking on his water. Natsu’s common sense went into shut-down mode.

Soon, a large group of people were crowding them. Questions regarding their actions over the past month or so were being shouted from left and right, overwhelming the two of them to the point where they didn’t remember why they were keeping their relations a secret.  

Natsu had, of course, glanced up at Gray beforehand, to make sure the ice mage and he were on the same page. Gray just shrugged and blushed, expecting Natsu to admit it softly. However, his lover had other plans, which involved dragging the two of them to stand on top of a table. Gray, despite wanting people to know, did not want to be the center of attention like _this_.

“Nope,” He shook his head frantically, trying to pry his hand out of Natsu’s tight grip, “Nope, nope, nopenopenopenope—“

“We’re dating,” Natsu suddenly shouted above all of the noise, silencing everybody.

There was a good five second period of time where everyone stood, shocked, in one place. Then, all hell broke loose. Juvia and Lucy were both screaming (who knows what for), Gajeel broke out into song, Levy and Wendy were running around, Makarov and Laxus were both spitting out their booze while Cana drowned herself in it, etc. They even heard Mira and Erza starting to design and name their future children.

“How long has this been going on?!”

“I knew it! I knew it!”

“Oh my god, they’re so cute together,”

“I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out sooner!”

The guild hall was so busy and frantic that Gray was able to grab Natsu’s hand and drag them both out without anyone noticing. The whole scenario was hilariously nerve-wracking, and they couldn’t refrain from laughing as they ran down the street. They failed to notice that they were still holding hands.

“Gray,” Natsu said in between fits of laughter, “I’m sorry about your shirt,”

“You can keep the fucking shirt,” Gray squeezed his hand, “At least everyone took the news well.”

“ _Well_? Mira’s already planning a wedding!”


	6. Kindergarten AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu sees Gray on the playground, and decides to say hi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be a reoccurring AU, since it's so cute... Thank you to those who have commented and gave kudos on this story! It makes me so happy that people like it!

Natsu was five years old when he first met Gray.

He had been sitting on the swings by himself, like always, when he first noticed him.

The boy was crouching by the sandbox, alone, facing the other way. It took Natsu about two seconds to jump off of his swing and run over (not including the time it took for him to trip and fall on his face, of course).

“What’re you doing?”

The sudden words made the other boy jump. Natsu stared into his grayish-blue eyes intently, as if he were demanding an answer.

“Huh?” He responded, flushing.

“What’re you doing in the sandbox?” Natsu repeated. Blue-Eyes ran a hand through his hair before he answered. _He has dark hair_ , Natsu observed, _dark and pretty_.

“Making a castle, _duh_ ,” The boy said, pointing to the lump of sand he was working on. Natsu snorted as he looked at the deformed and crumbling shape.

“That doesn’t look like a castle!”

“It does too!”

“Nuh uh!”

The boy pouted and clenched his fists, his face turning a dark shade of red.

“I _tried_ to make it look like a castle…” He trailed off, voice trembling. Natsu immediately felt guilty.

“It’s not that bad,”

Gray looked up at him hopefully, his eyes widening. They sparkled in the sunlight, Natsu noticed.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Here, let me help.”

He sat down with the boy and helped him scoop handful after handful of sand to stack on top of the already huge pile. They talked and laughed, and Natsu even got an opportunity to dump a bucket of sand over his head. The teacher yelled at him, but Natsu was too busy watching the boy frantically shaking his head trying and get all of it out of his hair and yelling things like _“You idiot!”_ and _“I’ll get you for this!”_ to care.

(Revenge was eventually achieved—by dumping a bucket of ice water down the back of Natsu’s shirt on field day. This marked the official beginning of their “prank war of death” that went on until the end of eighth grade.)

When recess was over, the two of them went back to their regular classrooms, but not before Natsu had the chance to ask:

“What’s your name?”

Blue eyes blinked three times before answering:

“Gray,”

…

“Dad, guess what?” Natsu skipped into his house when school was over, feeling happier than ever. “I made a new friend today!”

Igneel, his adoptive father, who had been in the middle of preparing dinner, looked down at his son. A grin crept onto his face as he saw how wide his son’s smile was. Natsu was a lonely child, so news such as this was enough to distract the man from cooking.

“Really?” He exclaimed, bending down so they were eye-level. Natsu nodded excitedly, blushing and hopping up and down.

“Yeah! His name is Gray and he has blue eyes that sparkle and dark hair and he likes drawing and the winter and—“

Before he had the chance to recite the rest of the facts he remembered from their meeting, he felt himself being lifted up.

“That’s great, kid!” Igneel cheered, spinning him around. Natsu laughed and nodded, so happy he could barely breathe.

“Can I invite him over sometime?”

“Of course!”

…

“Hey Ur,” Gray called from the doorway, “I’m back,”

“How was school?” His adoptive mother called from the living room.

“Fine,” He responded, walking in to see her reading in an armchair. She cocked an eyebrow and put the book down (it was a fantasy, her favorite kind).

“Fine? That’s new, normally school is just ‘boring’ or ‘ugh’,” She observed, making dramatic hand motions as she spoke.

Gray scowled at her. It was annoying how easy she could read him—she was almost as good as Ultear, his older sister.

“I made a friend,” He mumbled, starting to walk away. She was on him in seconds, prying as much as she could into the situation.

“What? Who is it? Are they nice? Do I know their parents? Are—“

“His name is Natsu, and he’s nice to me.” Gray shrugged her off and escaped to his bedroom as fast as humanly possible. Ur let him go, knowing it was no use. Gray was a sad kid, and if he didn’t want to talk, he wasn’t going to—Ur learned this the hard way. She was just glad he finally branched out and talked with someone.

Gray sat by the window in his room and stared at the sun, thinking about how Natsu’s eyes had sparkled when they talked.

 _Maybe we’ll see each other again tomorrow_ , He hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Lyon is Gray's older brother, who Ur also adopted)   
> (Natsu and Gray are both five)


	7. Matchmaker AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu and Gray try and set up Sting and Rogue.  
> [Modern]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not only Gratsu trash, but Stingue trash as well.  
> [This will be a continued AU, since it has a storyline. If any of you don't like Stingue, or want more of it, please leave a comment below! This AU will mainly focus on Gray and Natsu anyway, so don't worry if Stingue isn't your thing.]

“Sting, what are you doing?”

The question was simple, but the blond refused to answer. He was standing behind a pillar in the courtyard in front of their high school, occasionally peeking out to stare at something. At first, Natsu didn’t want to question Sting, since he knew it would only give him a headache, but his friend was the type of person who couldn’t let his actions go unnoticed—no matter how subtle he tried to be.

Sting and Natsu had met in middle school, and after a few joint detentions, they became inseparable. They’d fight sometimes (it was always Sting’s fault, obviously), over stupid things. But even when the blond was a total dick, Natsu would do anything for him, because they were best friends. He knew it worked the other way around, too.

“ _Sting_ ,” Natsu repeated, “what are you doing?”

“Observing,” He answered, looking out again. Natsu craned his neck to see above Sting’s head and realized that he wasn’t just staring at “something”, but a _person_ —and a special one, at that.

Rogue Cheney, the raven haired god of Sting’s dreams. He had been in their class from day one of high school, and Natsu could still remember seeing him for the first time (if Sting walking headfirst into a wall wasn’t memorable, Natsu didn’t know what was). Natsu didn’t mind Sting pining after Rogue, even though it was pathetic to watch. It was actually amusing.

“You could just take a picture, it would last longer.” Natsu teased.

“Oh fuck off,” Sting shooed him away with his hand.

“Why don’t you just talk to him?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Actually, it is.”

They bickered until lunch ended, when Sting had his English course and Natsu had a free period. He always sat outside and scrolled through Tumblr or BuzzFeed (homework, as the name implied, was to be done at home—or in Natsu’s case, a few minutes before it was due), so he never paid much attention to what was going around him. That’s why he was so surprised when someone tapped him on the shoulder, disrupting his normally calm atmosphere.

He was a stranger. The guy was wearing a Magnolia High tee shirt, so he was obviously a fellow student, but Natsu couldn’t recall seeing him before—if he did, he’d definitely know; he’d never forget a stunning face like that. He was pale and tall and very well built, with a shaggy mop of black hair falling over two pretty blue eyes.

“Hey,” He greeted, “uh… are you Natsu?”

Natsu just stared at him, confused, before opening his mouth to answer:

“Nope,”

The guy looked genuinely surprised as his pale face flushed with embarrassment.

“Oh, sorry, I thought… N-never mind,” He turned suddenly, and Natsu laughed out loud.

“I’m kidding, I’m Natsu,” He reassured him, “Sorry, I just wanted to freak you out.”

The guy let out a loud sigh, relieved.

“Well mission completed,” He chuckled shakily, boldly taking a seat next to Natsu, “I’m Gray,”

“Well, sorry Gray,” He said again, “I fool lots of stupid people,”

“Aw, I’m not the only one? I thought I was special…” Gray placed a hand over his heart and dramatically leaned back. Natsu almost died when he saw the cheeky smirk on his face.

“Nope, Sting—my friend—and I have been doing that for years. If you think that stupid trick was good, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Sting… Is that the blond guy with the earing?”

“Yeah, why?”

Gray turned to face him slowly, his smirk widening into a smile.

“That’s why I scouted you out,” He said, “I want to talk to you about Sting.”

Natsu raised an eyebrow.

“What about him?”

“Well, my friend won’t stop talking about ‘the cute guy in his English class’, and I sorta want to help him out, I guess. He’s socially awkward. Doesn’t get out much. Pretty emo.” He shrugged.

Natsu nodded.

“Who is it?” He asked.

“His name is Rogue.”

Natsu’s mouth dropped open.

“Rogue Cheney?”

“Yeah, why?”

Natsu normally would’ve thought more about whether or not spilling about Sting’s crush was a good idea, but he was too excited—Sting would die if he knew Rogue thought he was cute, so why not meddle a bit?

“Sting won’t shut up about Rogue, he’s always going on and on about how perfect he is.” He couldn’t help himself, all of the information just slipped out, and Gray seemed to love it.

“That’s amazing!” He kept saying, “How have they not realized it? Have they even talked?”

“I don’t even know, Sting is kind of a lost cause.”

“That makes two of them; Rogue needs moral support when talking to _anybody_ , let alone someone he likes.”  Gray laughed a little.

“How have we never met before?” Natsu suddenly asked, “Do you hang around Rogue often?”

The other shook his head.

“Not really, normally I’m in the art wing working on projects. I don’t have many friends here. Actually, I’m pretty new—Rogue and I knew each other before I transferred.” He said.

“So you’re an artist?”

“Yep. I like sculpting, but drawing and painting is fun, too.”

In Natsu’s mind, artists suddenly became ten times hotter.

“That’s cool; you’ll have to let me see some of your work sometime.”

“Yeah, maybe, if you don’t mind hiking across campus to get to the studio.”

They laughed, and then sat in a comfortable silence until Natsu got an idea. A horrible idea, but if it meant setting up Sting with Rogue or spending more time with Gray, then it was completely worth it.

“You know that prom is coming up, right?” He asked. Gray nodded. “Why not see if we can get one of them to ask the other, then they can be each other’s date.”

Gray’s pretty eyes widened.

“Do you think that would work?”

“I mean, maybe,” He scratched the back of his head and shrugged, “worse comes to worse they can hang out with us as a group.”

“A group?” Gray repeated slyly, biting his lip.

“Yeah, I think that would be fun,” Natsu tried to control himself before his heart beat out of his chest, “if our friends are gonna date each other then we might as well play nice, right?”

The older boy grinned and frantically shook his head in agreement.

“Definitely,”

“Good,”

Gray leaned in a little closer, so he was able to look Natsu straight in the eyes. He looked excited.

“So, what’s the plan?”


	8. Scarf [One Shot]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray gets hurt, and Natsu tries to comfort him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I am planning on switching Natsu's eye color around between red and green because everyone is very indecisive about what his real color is... Anyway, here is chapter eight! Please comment which AU you would like an update on (you can see which ones are continuous AU's in the chapter titles)

The last thing Gray saw before passing out was Natsu’s white scarf, and coincidently, it was also the first thing he saw when he woke up. It was pressed against his cheek, soft and warm, by the hands of its owner.

“You’re awake!” Natsu’s sharp teeth were what he saw second, followed by two bright and teary eyes.

The ice mage tried hard to remember what had happened; his muscles were aching and there were bloody gashes through his chest insignia and gut, both of which he had no recollection of getting.

“Mmm?” He cleared his throat, confused. Natsu looked exhausted, there were dark circles under his tired eyes and his shoulders were slumped over as if he’d been trying to sleep. His other hand, the one not busy holding the scarf against Gray’s face, was placed over the scar on his neck.

“How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Do you need any medicine?” His voice was garbled in Gray’s sensitive ears, and the ice mage was having trouble concentrating.

“What happened?” He asked weakly. Natsu’s glassy eyes widened.

“You don’t remember?”

Gray did his best to shake his head no. The dragon slayer sighed, looking at the floor with an astonished look on his face.

“You were fighting that weapon mage, during our last job?” The slight upswing and pause at the end made Gray feel like Natsu wanted him to remember on his own, so that he wouldn’t have to repeat anything. Sadly, nothing clicked in the ice mages mind. The fire wizard’s face fell.

“Well, he was good, and… And he was pretty clever, too…” Natsu reluctantly continued and scratched at the scar, “He brought one of the citizens into the fight, a little girl, no older than ten or twelve, probably.”

A picture of a girl with long red plaits flashed in Gray’s mind, and he inhaled sharply. She had been pulled by her hair to stand next to the opponent, and he’d held a knife to her throat.

“Yeah, I remember her…”

Natsu smiled sadly.

“You saved her, but got hit pretty bad in her place,” He motioned to the mess of bandages and blood on Gray’s chest, and he vaguely remembered the whole scenario—throwing himself in the girl’s place, ripping her away, and a dagger being thrust into his gut.

(That wound, as he remembered it, began throbbing painfully under the bandages.)

“Are _you_ okay, Natsu?” He suddenly asked, remembering the slayer fighting alongside him, bloodied and very beat down. The man in question jerked a little, uncomfortable.

“Yeah, m’fine,” He mumbled, resuming his previous task with the scarf. “Worry about yourself, you won’t be able to move for the next week or so.”

“But I did save her didn’t I? The girl?”

Natsu nodded.

“Yes, but you could’ve died. You almost did die, you bastard.” His voice was so soft that Gray could barely hear the end of it.

“But if she’s safe,” Gray couldn’t help smiling, “Then my injuries are worth it.”

Natsu, surprisingly, looked furious. His fist clenched around the scarf on Gray’s neck, and the mage could feel his fingers trembling with rage.

(Gray was about to tell him to calm down before his hand caught fire, but he decided that the idea of pissing him off even more was not very wise—especially since said hand was extremely close to his windpipe.)

“You’re missing the point, Gray,” He seethed, “If you made the wrong move… If he stabbed your heart instead of your gut…”

“But he _didn’t_ ,” Gray argued.

“But he _could’ve_ ,” Natsu bit his lip and leaned back on the stool he was sitting on, letting the scarf flop down loosely around Gray’s neck. The feeling of the fabric on his chest reminded Gray of his previous question, and since (to him) it was the perfect time to change the subject, he decided to ask it.

“Natsu, why am I wearing your scarf?”

The angry look on the younger boy’s face was instantly replaced with a bright red blush and bashfulness. He wrung his hands together nervously as he spoke.

“I thought it might make you feel better,” He admitted, “when I get sick, I always wear it. I dunno… It just makes me get well faster. If you don’t want to wear it, I can take it off,”

Gray’s stomach flipped and he suddenly had a burning impulse to grab Natsu and hug him to death, but because of his physical state (and because it would be very awkward) he settled for snuggling closer to the muffler instead.

“…Thank you,” He mumbled as his face flushed, “I’m sorry for scaring you. Please don’t leave.”

Natsu smiled and subconsciously brushed a few strands of dark hair out of Gray’s eyes. He had been sitting on that stool for almost a week, and had only gotten up to go to the bathroom or get food. It was agonizing, but he never once thought of leaving him alone, especially not now.

“I forgive you,” His voice was soft and sincere, “just promise me you won’t die.”

Gray laughed and ignored the stabbing pain rushing through him as he did so.

“You know I can’t do that,”

“Then promise me you’ll try not to?”

Gray leaned forwards and buried his nose in the white fabric, wanting very much to pull the slayer down to lay with him.

“I promise.”

A few months later, after Gray had made a full recovery and Natsu managed to get himself beat up by a few wizards from a dark guild (it wasn’t because they were stronger; he was already out of magic from completing a job a few minutes earlier and they had the nerve to ambush him), Natsu woke up in his guilds hospital room.

The first thing he saw was Gray sleeping in a chair next to him, and the first thing he felt was the weight of a familiar sword pendant latched around his neck.


	9. Wings [One Shot]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray has pretty wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this AU (and winged!Gray), so definitely expect more fantasy chapters. I'll probably make a guide of what mutation each character has as I add them in, so no one will get confused. Thank you for the kudos and the comments, I get excited every time I read them!

_His wings were pretty._

That’s what Natsu thought every time he looked at Gray. Sometimes he even said it out loud. No one blamed him, since they were all thinking the same way; about how beautiful the long, dark feathers looked every time they erupted out from in between the boy’s shoulder blades.

Natsu’s dragon-like abilities were nothing compared to those wings.

 _“Behind the feathers, they’re just hollow bone and skin,”_ He had once heard Gray tell Juvia, the water nymph; _“they’re actually pretty ugly.”_

Upon hearing this statement, Natsu caught himself gaping at the elder boy. To think he saw his own wings as bags of bones was crazy enough, but to call them ugly? That was like painting the sunrise black, or telling the stars to go back to sleep. They could never be considered ugly, not even by the worst of villains.

They used to be best friends, the two of them. But then Gray got promoted to being a scout an always left for work, leaving Natsu alone at the mutant camp. It was lonely without him, but they were still both silent, observing, always in the backdrop of the others life.

It hurt, to not get letters from him, to go without seeing him for long stretches of time without any knowledge of if he was alive or when he was coming home. He bit back the tears when he was alone. He had trust in Gray.

He supposed he had always trusted him, even back when he couldn’t control his own flames. He was laying face-down in the dirt when they met, knuckles bruised and bleeding, in the middle of a cluster of ashy trees. A gust of wind strong enough to knock him backwards rushed at his small body, and the fall made his head spin. It was then that he saw them, the grey blue eyes, glowing bright against the night sky and his pale skin, with wispy hair gracing his delicate features perfectly, like an angel. It was funny how he had thought that right before the two black wings unfolded in front of his eyes; except these wings were more raven-like than those of angels—they weren’t as curved.

 _“Don’t tell me they’re pretty,”_ He had said knowingly, with a soft voice.

Natsu didn’t remember what happened afterwards, only that the raven had taken him to a camp where all of the other mutants were. It was a peaceful place, where people like him could learn to control their abilities without hurting anyone. He had fun, and made friends, but never felt whole—not when Gray wasn’t there. Gray had been given the difficult task of scouting out other mutants, and since he had a bird’s eye view, it proved easier for him than others. However, it didn’t change the fact that he was normally gone for weeks at a time, and only remained at the camp for a few days before departing again.

Now, after six weeks of watching the sky for that graceful shadow, Natsu finally saw it.

“You’re back,” He was out of breath from running to meet him as he landed, so the words were frantic and rushed. Gray looked sleepy from flying so much, but still managed to catch what he was saying.

“I am,” He grinned, stretching his out his beautiful wings so they reached their maximum length. Natsu suddenly had the urge to bury his face in the feathers, but knew that Gray (as happy as he was to see the younger boy) wouldn’t appreciate that. However, he was too overwhelmed by the impulse to not do anything. Gray let out a soft “oomph” as Natsu’s body latched onto his.

“I missed you,” The dragon whispered against his neck, “how long are you staying this time?”

The raven sighed into the touch, wrapping his arms around the smaller form in front of him.

“I don’t know. Not long.”

He smiled sadly as he heard Natsu’s distressed groan, and knew he wanted nothing more than to accompany him on his quests.

“Have you learned any new techniques?” He asked. Natsu nodded against his skin, and subconsciously began stroking the base of his wings. Gray shivered.

“Mmhmm, I’ll show you tomorrow,”

“Okay,”

Natsu pulled away then, and admired the sight before him. Gray was dark and light at the same time; he was the stars and the night and everything Natsu wanted in his life. It wasn’t fair how he had to leave all of the time. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t go with him.

Before he knew what was happening, he felt a cold hand wipe across his cheek, and then realized he had begun crying.

“Natsu,”

“S-sorry, I just…”

Gray’s wings began to fold closed, and the glittering sky expanded from behind them.

“Do you want me to take you flying tomorrow?” The raven nudged him, and locked their fingers together. Natsu gave him a watery smile.

“Of course,” He laughed weakly, “but not before I show you my new moves!”

That night, with Natsu laying beside him, Gray dreamt of being grounded.

Natsu dreamt of how the world would look from above the clouds.


	10. Kindergarten AU [2]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray is turning six!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE the idea of Ur and Igneel being friends. They'd probably be the biggest Gratsu shippers ever, and try to meddle as subtly as possible...

“Dad, did you get the snacks?”

“Yeah, I’ve already told y—“

“Do we have the present ready?”

“Mmhmm,”

“What about the card?”

“Natsu, I promise we have everything. Calm down for just a second, okay?”

Despite his father’s wishes, Natsu did not calm down. He _couldn’t_ , not when he was on his way to Gray’s sixth birthday party. Ur had invited both Natsu and Igneel to dinner at their house, as a celebration. At first, she had said over the phone, that Gray wanted to spend his birthday alone. As soon as Natsu got involved, he seemed to change his mind.

(Natsu squealed when he heard her say this, and ended up being punished for listening to their conversation from the other line.)

They pulled in to the Milkovich/Fullbuster/Vastia household (apparently Ur had decided to let her two adopted sons keep their original last names), as a tall girl with long dark hair emerged from their doorway.

“Hello, Ultear,” Igneel greeted her, waving from the car. Natsu was bouncing around in the backseat of the car, seatbelt unbuckled, completely wired from all the sugar in his system. He hadn’t seen Gray since their last school day, which was a week or two ago. Winter break was upon them, and Natsu hated it—partially because he liked summer waaay more, but mostly because he couldn’t play with any of his friends.

“Hello!” She smiled, motioning for them to enter her house. Natsu sprinted to the door, and ran inside before she could say another word. By doing this, he managed to run straight into Lyon—who wanted as much to do with Natsu as he did with his little brother. Which was not a lot.

“Watch it!” He scowled, gently shoving him back, “Gray’s in the kitchen, go annoy him in there!”

The younger boy didn’t need to be told twice.

“Ah! Hello, Dragneels!” Ur’s face brightened when she saw Natsu burst into their kitchen, followed by Igneel and her daughter. She was chopping lettuce and tomatoes, probably for some kind of salad, and the pinket had to try very hard not to cringe. He preferred meat.

“Hey,” Igneel said, ruffling the hair on the back of Gray’s head, “Happy birthday, kid!”

“Thanks,” The birthday boy shrugged out of the touch. Natsu ran up to him to grab a fistful of his collared shirt, and started shaking with happiness.

“Do you feel older? What’s it like being old?” He gripped the shirt so tightly Gray nearly choked.

“I’m only six!” He swatted at Natsu’s face with his hands. “Don’t talk like I’m as ancient as our parents!”

Ur twitched.

“Watch that foul mouth, Gray, or you’re not getting dessert,” She threatened, holding out the salad tongs like weapons. Igneel just laughed.

“Why don’t you two go play somewhere while I help Ur finish making dinner,” He suggested, “Natsu, maybe you could give him his gift.”

The idea made the boy literally spring up off of the ground. Gray flinched next to him, wondering what sort of amazing gift Natsu had gotten. Before he could ask, the fireball had grabbed his hand and rushed them both to his room.

“What--?”

“I got you something, for your birthday!” Natsu cut Gray off by shoving his hand over his mouth. The older boy bit the skin hard to release himself, and then angrily crossed his arms.

“You could just show me, you don’t hafta be all secretive.” He huffed.

“Okay, okay… Close your eyes.” Natsu demanded, gently prodding at the others face until Gray slammed down his eyelids and gave in.

“No peeking!”

“I’m not!”

There was about thirty seconds of zippers opening and closing (which Gray assumed was Natsu’s backpack), and then he felt a warm hand jabbing at his forehead.

“Okay, open them!”

Gray blinked his eyes open to see a handmade, leather-bound book resting in his friend’s arms. It was thick and looked extremely heavy (which was why Natsu was having trouble holding it without slouching), but it was also beautifully made. He gazed at the younger boy, who looked like he was going to burst with excitement any second.

“Did _you_ make this?” He asked, running a finger over the stitches binding the cover. Natsu nodded.

“Me and Igneel did it a couple of days ago,” He answered, “Oh! And look,”

He struggled to flip the cover and show Gray all of the blank pages behind it.

“It’s for your drawings!” He said, smiling so much that his cheeks began to burn. Gray was so amazed by the gift that he understood why Natsu was so excited.

“I love it!” He whispered, flipping through the pages, “I’m gonna use it all the time,”

Natsu thrust it into the older boy’s arms and flushed a deep red.

“It’s yours,”

Gray gently placed it on top of his neatly made bed (Ur made him and his siblings clean the entire house before the guests arrived) and then struggled to come up with something to say other than “thanks”.

“I really do love it,” He said, “It’s the best present I’ve ever gotten,”

Natsu, who _really_ needed to learn some self-control, flung himself onto the older boy with enough force to knock them both to the ground. He was still smiling like an idiot, with his hair a spiky mess and his scarf tangled sloppily around his neck, and by looking at him long enough Gray found himself laughing too instead of getting annoyed.

“Hey freezeface! Tell your stupid crush that dinner’s ready!” Lyon called from the hallway, obviously not caring enough to respect his brother’s privacy. Ultear, thankfully, also heard this, and being the protective big sister that she was, proceeded to scold him with words like “ _that is not what you say in front of other people”_ and _“Gray has never made fun of you and Meredy”._

(The truth of it was that Gray probably had, at some point, teased Lyon about his crush on the pink haired girl. What else could he do? He got bored easily, and Meredy was always hanging around. Ultear babysat her all of the time.)

Natsu’s smile just turned even bigger as they both made their way down to the kitchen, prepared for an evening of birthday festivities.

…

Back in the kitchen, Ur and Igneel were busy gossiping about their kids.

“Do you think they’ll date someday?” Ur wondered as soon as the two boys had left the room. Igneel shrugged.

“I dunno, but I am sure things will get interesting.”

“Mhm,” The woman agreed, taste-testing the pasta sauce while it was still hot. Igneel then whipped out his cell phone, looking as excited as his son did earlier.

“Look what I dug up the other day,” He pointed at the picture on the screen, “I’d been looking for it, I had no idea it was in my junk folder.”

It was a cute picture, of Natsu and Gray on their first play date. They were sitting on Natsu’s porch steps, with scraped knees and ice cream smeared over their faces, both laughing. The younger boy had an arm playfully wrapped around the taller one, pulling them both down so they were the same height in the picture.

“Oh, you’d better save that,” Ur said softly, looking at the smile on Gray’s face, “I really need to take more pictures of them, for the future.”

Igneel grinned and nodded, putting the phone back into his pocket.

“If we ever manage to get enough of them, we can put a slideshow together for their wedding!”


	11. Matchmaker AU [2]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Natsu and Sting are frustrated while Gray and Rogue are poetic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want a stingue tee shirt that I could wear every day. This chapter is kind of a filler, but it will pick up with more Gratsu wonderfulness in the next one! I'm planning on updating a one-shot next, comment if you have any ideas!

The first thing Natsu did after his study hall ended was sprint to Sting’s English classroom. His friend always stayed after, to work on homework or hang out with some of the other students, but Natsu couldn’t let that happen today; not when there was a potential chance for Sting’s love life to finally progress.

He reached the room faster than he had expected, panting and sweaty, with his heart pounding quicker than it should. He supposed that he should’ve tried to calm down, but was way too excited to make a good attempt at it.

“Sting!” He exclaimed, seeing the spiky blond hair, “Come here!”

Sting whipped around, a post-class expression covering his normally sharp features. He looked surprised to see Natsu there. Normally they met up after all of their classes were over.

“Huh?”

“Get over here, Sting, I have something to tell you,” Natsu rushed, motioning frantically for him to get up. Upon hearing the curious statement, Sting didn’t waste any more time, and was by the pink haired boy’s side in seconds.

“What is it?” He asked. Natsu answered immediately:

“You have to ask Rogue to prom,”

There was a five second pause that (to Natsu) felt more like it lasted for an hour, which was broken by a loud shriek of laughter coming from the other boy.

“W-what? I can’t do that!” He managed to get out between snickers, “seriously Natsu, where have you _been_?”

Natsu pouted with frustration.

“But this time—“

“I’d never do that! He’d think I’m weird.”

“Sti—“

“And prom is lame, anyway.”

“Sting, you’re not listening!” He stomped his foot and ignored the obvious lie (Sting had always loved prom, he just never allowed himself to admit it).

“I can’t,” Blue eyes blinked a few times before continuing. His laughter had died down and was replaced with a rather sad look. “C’mon, man, he’d turn me down. He doesn’t even know me.”

“That’s because you never talk to him,” Natsu pointed out. He had to tread lightly; one wrong move and Sting would run away screaming and not even consider the idea.

Sting raised his right eyebrow, the light scar above moving with it, and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Wait a second,” He backtracked, “why are you even bringing this up? You don’t care one way or another.”

Natsu was offended.

“Of course I care!” He gasped, throwing a hand over his heart, “I want you to be happy, Sting!”

“You’ve never acted this way before…” Sting reached a ringed finger to his earlobe and fiddled with the garnish held there. “Did something happen today?”

Strangling himself with his scarf seemed like a good idea at that point, Natsu thought, since Sting could see right through him and wouldn’t back down until he felt satisfied. So, the only reasonable thing to do would be to tell him everything.

“I met someone today,” He muttered, a blush rushing to his cheeks without permission. “No one special, but I need to see him again, so I figured that if _you_ could talk to _Rogue_ then _I_ could talk to _him_.”

Well, maybe not the whole truth, but it was good enough.

“Natsu Dragneel, you have a crush?” Sting was gaping at him, his pointy teeth glinting devilishly in the sun.

“I didn’t say that!”  Natsu defended, “I just didn’t want to be alone on this, so I thought—“

“Who is it?”

“He—“

“Is he cute? No… You’re not really into the cute type…”

“I—“

“He’s gotta be someone I know, wait, lemme think,”

“ _Sting_ ,” Natsu groaned, exhausted, “Will you _please_ just talk to Rogue?”

The blond looked at the ground, pondering the question.

“You just want me to talk to him? That’s it?” He asked. Natsu nodded.

“Yes, that’s it,” _For now_ , he added in his head.

“And if I talk to him, you’ll talk to your guy?”

Another nod.

Sting sighed, and scratched the back of his head anxiously. Then, with a loud sigh of defeat, he said:

“Deal,”

…

Gray didn’t know what to expect when he had scouted out Natsu Dragneel, best friend of the famous Sting Eucliffe. If anything, he had thought he'd be sidekick material. Maybe a little bit ugly, even. He certainly did _not_ expect that this boy would be so goddamn interesting. Or adorable. In a hot way, of course.

After they had parted, Gray was left stunned, partially because now he knew for a fact that Sting liked Rogue in return, but also because all he could think about were Natsu’s face and voice and ideas and just _Natsu_ , in general. Seriously, was it healthy to have his heart beating this fast?

His mind was finally relieved of this overwhelming new obsession (not all the way, but a little), when Rogue met up with him for their daily walk home, looking more soulless than he usually did after school. His red eyes were open wide and unblinking, and every so often Gray was positive he’d forget how to breathe.

“Rogue, what happened to you?” Gray finally let himself ask, trying to prepare himself for what might happen next. For the second time that day, he didn’t know what to expect. For the second time that day, he was stunned by the outcome.

“Gray,” Rogue had stopped walking, still staring blankly at the ground, “Sting talked to me today.”

Internally, Gray was shrieking. The urge to hunt Natsu Dragneel down again and hug him grew even more, if possible.

“Really? That’s great!” Gray grinned brightly and took a step back so they were side by side again. The other finally seemed to snap out of his daze. A small smile graced his pretty features.

“He’s… He’s really funny. And nice.” He mumbled from behind the collar of his flannel.

“What did he say?”

“He just introduced himself, and said that he’d never talked to me before. He just wanted to get to know me.”

Gray nodded. It was a start. A start that could’ve gone a lot worse.

“Did you let him?”

Rogue looked at Gray, his calm face turning flustered much too quickly.

“Yes? I think so? What if I bored him? I’m not an interesting person, Gray! He’s probably going to ignore me now,” He rambled, subconsciously tugging at his ponytail. Gray laughed.

“Trust me, he’s not going to,” Gray muttered.

“What?” Rogue asked.

“Oh, nothing,” He covered. Rogue let it slide for now, but Gray was positive the topic would come up again. The guy looked chill, but he never let anything go.

“How come Sting interests you so much?” Gray ended up saying. The other was silent for a while, his feet dragging on the ground and his eyes half closed, trying to think up a suitable answer.

“Sting is all eyes and teeth and light,” He turned to face Gray again, “and lately I’ve been in the dark.”

Gray was used to Rogue’s poetic symbolisms, and he let the words bounce around in his head. Without even meaning to, he had used them as a basis for what he already thought about Natsu.

“What about your interest?” Rogue smirked. Of course he knew; Rogue always knew. Gray decided not to think about it too much as he slid his hands into his pockets and walked with a little more speed.

“He’s all hair and smiles and fire,” He smiled, “And I am always cold.”


	12. Coffee Shop [One-Shot]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray hits on a cute employee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for sassy Gray. Let me know if this should be a continued AU, or just stay a one shot. Thank you all for the lovely comments! I love all of my readers!

“Iced coffee and bagel for a Mr. _Gray_ _Fullbuster_?”

It wasn’t that crowded in the coffee shop that morning, since it was Christmas Eve, and the little town that Gray lived in wasn’t a big hit spot during holidays. It was one of those places that people didn’t know existed until they’ve been there. One of the perks of this, Gray thought, was that it was secluded and peaceful. Especially at times like this.

He straightened up from the wall he was leaning on, and yawned. It wasn’t his choice to be stuck at home during the holidays, he’d much rather be able to spend time with his adoptive siblings Lyon and Ultear. Alas, Lyon and Meredy were visiting her friend Jellal to celebrate the festivities, and all of the flights were cancelled due to snow, so reaching Ultear (who lived a billion miles away) was out of the question.

“Gray Fullbuster?” The voice from the counter called again. Gray snapped out of his sleep deprived daze to glance at the source of the noise, and nearly choked on air. Standing there, holding his bagel in one hand and the drink in the other, was a pink haired employee. A _very_ _hot_ pink haired employee.

“That’s me,” Gray cleared his throat and weakly raised his hand to signify where he was. The guy looked over and did a bit of a double take (Gray pretended not to notice) when he saw who had spoken.

“I have your food here.” He shook the bag a bit harshly, and Gray finally moved to join him near the counter.

“Watch it! Don’t shake the bag,” Gray snickered and grabbed it out of the man’s hand. Looking down, he saw that his name tag read _NATSU_ in bold letters. He also noticed that he looked even more attractive up close, with toned arms and bright green eyes that Gray couldn’t look away from.

“If you didn’t want me to shake the bag,” He grinned slyly, showing off sharp white teeth, “You should’ve received it sooner.”

“Ooh,” Gray shivered and mocked being offended, “Is that any way to treat a paying customer? I should just go eat at the diner across the street, if that’s the case.”

Natsu chuckled at this, and Gray smiled at the accomplishment.

“If we’re being totally honest, I think that’s a good idea. They have awesome burgers.” He reached out and took the credit card Gray was holding out in front of him.

“You’d eat a burger for breakfast?” Gray asked, scrunching up his face.

“You’d drink iced coffee in a snowstorm?” Natsu countered. He swiped the card with a smirk.

“I don’t really feel the cold. I never have, not since I was a kid,” He said.

“Look man, that’s cool, but I didn’t ask for your life story. Just take your food and sit down so I can do my job.” Natsu handed the card back, his smirk morphing into a teasing grin.

“What job could you possibly have to do, since there is nobody else here?” He motioned around to the empty room. Natsu rolled his eyes.

“Touché,” He laughed, “But no more stories. I already said I don’t care about your personal life.”

“Oh, but I care about yours. How long have you been working here? I would’ve noticed someone like you, so I’m guessing not long.” He winked playfully and sat on a stool near the counter, so they could talk. Another accomplishment—Natsu’s cheeks reddened.

“Aren’t you smooth, Mr. Fullbuster. I just transferred from the one two towns over,” He answered.

“That’s cool, wh—Hey!” Gray jumped as he saw the sharpie ink on his coffee cup, “You spelled my name wrong!”

Natsu moved to look, not knowing what he had done wrong.

“I didn’t mean to, Lucy’s the one who told me who it was for. She just left for her morning break.” He said, referring to his co-worker, who usually spent more time on break then she ever did working.

“It’s G-R-A-Y, not G-R-E-Y,” The elder laughed, taking a swig of the liquid inside of the cup.

“How am I supposed to tell the difference, they sound the exact same!” Natsu exclaimed, throwing his arms out with frustration.

“Fine, fine, I’ll forgive you,” Gray leaned forwards so he could look more directly into Natsu’s wide eyes, “If you let me visit you again tomorrow.”

“That’s not up to me, ice coffee freak. Do what you want.” He said it in a bored tone, but Gray could see his mouth twitch into a happy smile.

“Then I will,”

“Fine,”

“Fine,”

Gray sat in an amusing silence for the next few minutes, silently chewing his bagel and suppressing the urge to ask the boy any more questions. Natsu didn’t seem busy; he just mulled around and re-organized a few shelves of cups before sighing and walking back over to Gray.

“Yes?” Gray asked cheekily. Natsu rolled his eyes.

“How are you already unbearable to me and we’ve only just met?” He asked, placing a hand on his hip. Gray laughed out loud and leaned back on the stool.

“I have that effect on people,” He said, “You’ll get used to me, don’t worry.”

Another blush flew across the pink haired boy’s face.

“You mean you’re going to visit often? Damn,” He pretended to be annoyed, but failed miserably when his hips tugged up in a smile.

“Of course. You interest me.” Gray informed him.

“I interest you?” Natsu repeated.

“Yes. Now, I’ve got to go to work, but I promise I’ll be back. Don’t miss me too much.” He winked again.

“Believe me, I won’t,” Natsu laughed. Gray already wanted to smush the boy’s face in hands because he was so fucking cute—but he truly lost it when the elder saw the _dimples_.

“You’re cute,” He said, booping his nose. “See you later, Natsu,”

When the door had shut with bang behind the blue-eyed man, Natsu sunk to the floor and had to try and slow down his heart rate. It wasn’t easy, because he was still thinking about the way the should-be model had said his name, and because when he moved to clean up the man’s mess, there was new writing on the coffee cup:

_Call me for a spelling lesson_

It was scratched on in thin sharpie, along with seven numbers and an arrow pointing to the misspelled name.

It was in that moment, Natsu realized that he was completely and utterly ruined.


	13. Punk AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray is a graffiti artist and Natsu has pink hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make a Punk AU, but it turned out more mushy than anything... Ah well. In the future there will definitely be more punk chapters. The urge to write these characters with lip piercings is too strong to ignore. For the next week updates may possibly be delayed due to my busy schedule, but they should go back to normal afterwards.

Natsu fiddled with his lip ring for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. He couldn’t be blamed for this nervous habit, if not the ring then his nails would’ve been bitten, and Gray always yelled at him for _that_ more than anything. Natsu sighed at the thought of his boyfriend. He was late.

“Bastard,” He kept muttering over and over as he paced back across the concrete, “Did he forget?”

Unfortunately for Natsu, who had expected Gray to appear sooner than later, he didn’t see the tattooed male until a half hour later—being followed by flashlights and voices calling things like:

_“Teenage trash! Get back here!”_

_“This is the police!”_

_“Stop, you graffiti freak!”_

And many other things that weren’t half as nice. Natsu smirked and released his piercing from the killer grasp between his teeth.

“You got caught again?” He asked the other, taking off in a sprint next to him.

“Hardly,” Gray panted smugly, quickly turning a corner, “They didn’t see my face. I’m good,”

“You’ve gotta be more careful,” Natsu gently punched the elder in the shoulder when he caught him rolling his eyes.

“I am careful, they just happened to walk in on me this time,”

“Well, at least tell me you finished it?”

Gray (finally) stopped to blend in with the crowd once they reached a busy area of the city, and pulled Natsu close to him so he’d be able to hear over the noise.

“I did,” He smiled. Natsu couldn’t hide his gasp of excitement.

“When can I see it?” He asked.

“Soon. Once it dries.” Gray shook his shoulder bag and Natsu heard the spray paint bottles clatter together. He nodded reluctantly.

“I’m so excited,”

“I know, me too,”

“Do you think it’ll stay up?”

“I hope. That piece of shit took forever to finish.”

“If it took so long, hopefully it’s not a piece of shit.”

They talked until they ended up in front of their apartment, and stopped only when Gray unlocked the door. It was a nice place, considering their price range, with a bedroom and a kitchen and other necessities. Gray always promised Natsu that once he finished school and got a job; he’d get them a nicer place. Natsu always shoved him when he said this, and made it clear that they were in the game of life together, not for themselves. He also teased that big wig companies rarely hire people who have tattoos. They both had lots of those. Gray wasn’t subtle about his either, he hated clothes.

The taller boy groaned and threw his paints to the ground once he got inside, immediately kicking off his shoes and socks as well. It wasn’t long until he was in nothing but his black skinny jeans.

“Don’t get too comfortable, you know we have to go back out to see it,” Natsu clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

“Tonight? _Really_? You can’t wait a day?” Gray asked, exhausted.

“Nope, I already texted Gajeel and the others. They’re coming too.”

Gray sighed and stretched an arm over his head, exposing more of his beautiful inked skin to the other. He had lots of tattoos, all placed artistically across his body. They were dark and intricate, and ran down his torso then down his left arm, trailing down to nothing but a few scratches near his hand. Natsu was jealous of how perfectly Gray could pull them off, when he himself only had a few bigger ones. His favorite of Gray’s was an abstract symbol on the right side of his chest. He loved it so much that he decided to get the same mark tattooed in red, on his right shoulder.

Natsu didn’t have as many tattoos as Gray did, but he had more piercings. He was also more daring when it came to hair color. He had five ear piercings (three on one and two on the other), one on his tongue, one on his lip, and one on his nose that he rarely put in. Gray only had one ear piercing each, and occasional snake bites (when he felt like it).

“You’re unbelievable,” Gray rolled his eyes and playfully ruffled Natsu’s hair, which was now pink. Before it was dyed pink, it used to be blue. Then purple. Then black. Then green. He was going through every color, and Gray had to wonder how even after all of the damage his hair had, it still looked flawless. It was shaved on the right side, and the rest was pushed over his head in a loose fringe. Gray wasn’t half as obsessed with his hair as Natsu was, and tended to stick with either a sloppy quiff or just leave it the way it was.

“Grab a shirt, take this,” Natsu shoved a leftover piece of pizza into Gray’s hand, “then we’re leaving.”

…

They made sure to be careful when walking back through the cluttered street, to the spot where their friends were meeting.

“Hey!” As soon as they came into sight, a small blue-dyed girl came running up to them. “They’re here!”

Natsu grinned.

“Hey, Levy,” He greeted. Gray waved.

“Are we gonna see this ‘amazing piece’ now? Natsu’s been goin’ on about it all week,” The rough voice of Gajeel followed the chirpy one, and the pierced male took a step forwards. Gray flipped him off casually before taking a few steps ahead of the group.

“Gray, Natsu,” Sting and Rogue appeared next (out of thin air, if you asked Gray), the blond in leather and the other in a ripped flannel. They clearly didn’t think this occasion was important enough to put effort into their clothes, because Sting would’ve worn more black and Rogue would’ve tied his hair up.

“Are you guys coming or are we waiting here for nothing?” Natsu called from beside Gray, anxiously yanking on his frayed tee shirt. The small group walked along the street, complaining and yawning and fiddling with their piercings (Gajeel had the most by far, and was constantly toying with them), until they reached an empty alleyway. Natsu could barely make out a faint red-gold glow a few meters into the darkness.

“Here it is. Happy birthday, Natsu.” Gray smiled and managed to kiss his temple quickly before the fireball took off, eager to see what the creation was. The others strolled down behind him, and took their sweet time.

The breath was sucked out of Natsu’s lungs as he stared at the magnificent dragon painted onto the concrete wall, signed and delivered to him just the way he wanted. It was huge and perfect, with all of his favorite colors blended together. The dragon itself was imposing, with beautiful scaly wings and a vibrant flame roaring from its mouth.

“That’s fucking amazing,” Sting was the first to speak, with his arm draped around Rogue’s shoulders and his mouth agape. “I mean, Gray, we knew you were a graffiti artist but holy _shit_ , man,”

“It’s for Natsu,” Gray shrugged, but couldn’t repress a grin as he addressed the pink haired boy. “Do you like it?”

The person in question was biting his lip ring so hard that he could taste blood in his mouth, but the pain didn’t stop him—he was too excited.

“I love it,” He whispered, “it’s beautiful,”

Gray smiled widely.

“Of course you love it, it’s sick,” Gajeel piped up from the corner, “When are you gonna paint me one? I want an iron one. Iron, like my piercings. It’s badass.”

Levy shut him up soon after that. The girl was small, but always got her way in the end. It was terrifying. They talked for a while after this, laughing and in awe of the sight, but after a while, their friends grew tired of the scene and left. They made sure to compliment Gray so Natsu wouldn’t bite anyone’s hand off.

“It really is beautiful,” Natsu repeated as soon as the others were gone. Gray ran a hand through the pink hair and brushed it over the shaved section lightly. Natsu leaned into the touch.

“I’m glad you like it,” Gray said happily.

“Hey, Gray?”

“Mm?”

“I decided what my next tattoo is going to be.”

“What?”

The younger one roughly grabbed Gray’s jaw and yanked his head around so he was looking at the picture on the wall. He was so excited that he was shaking.

“This,”

The artist’s heart fluttered as he thought about having his work inked into Natsu’s skin, never fading for forever. He let his head drop into the others hand and smiled brightly.

“Okay,”


	14. Amnesia AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu has amnesia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is angsty. I am sorry.   
> Song: Heart Of Stone by IKO

_“I can breathe_

_I can breathe_

_Water,”_

It felt natural, refreshing even, to preform in front of a crowd.

_“Water,”_

Pale lips traced out each syllable softy and left no room for error. The words slid off of his tongue as easily as they would if he had been alone.

_“I can breathe,”_

He almost felt free like this: fingers dancing across a keyboard and vision cut off by long dark bangs which weren’t bothersome enough to be brushed aside. He didn’t need to look at the sheet music in order to hit the right keys. The notes were stitched into his brain so deeply that he couldn’t forget them even if he tried.

_“I can breathe,_

_Water,_

_Water,”_

Light eyes rimmed with a darker blue glanced upwards quickly, and the pale lips quirked up in a small smile. He could see that Natsu was back, standing behind the thick wall of people and leaning against a poster-covered wall, arms crossed and scarf pulled up so high that all that could be made out from his face were two gleaming eyes.

_“When you’re here with me,”_

He paused and skillfully ran his hands down the keys, maintaining eye contact with the boy and trying to tell him that he was singing this for _him_. _It had always been for him._

_“You’re not here with me,”_

The coffee house seemed empty except for the two of them, the piano and his voice being the only noise. Still, he felt alone. The boy was crying on the other side of the room, the salty tears running right into the soft material of his scarf.

_“Can I pry your finger_

_From everything I say and do?”_

He wished Natsu would uncover his face. He wished he could tell him that the scars underneath weren’t as bad as they seemed.

_“And I just can’t forget you,”_

But apparently _Natsu_ could forget _him_ , after everything they’d been through, because he had swerved just a little too much to the right, and hit his head a little too hard during the collision. It took less than three seconds for it all to be erased.

Now to Natsu, the owner of the voice was nameless.

To the other, Natsu’s was still the only name he cherished most.

_“And your heart of stone,”_

The song kept playing and the tears kept falling, and the pianist couldn’t stop his own from flooding his cheeks. His voice was still strong, and his hands never wavered—neither did the near violent gaze he maintained with the boy. He couldn’t see his own expression but he was sure his eyes were screaming that _it’s me it’s me I’m standing right here you don’t have to be alone anymore please remember me say my name and remember me._

_“I can breathe,”_

It was a lie. He was suffocating.

_“I can breathe,”_

There was a dull recognition in the younger boy’s eyes, a familiar acknowledgement, not the one the singer craved to see instead; the one filled with passion and memories of their lips locked together and dancing in the middle of the street because _why not, it’s not like anyone’s awake, right?_ He could hear Natsu’s pleading voice throbbing against his skull and was reminded yet again of what he’d give to hear that voice again, saying his name. The manner of which he said it didn’t matter at this point, whether or not it was soft or sincere or a scream into the night, as long as it wasn’t as empty as the elder felt.

_“Water,”_

He repeated the lyrics until his throat burned and the tears began stinging his eyes; until he couldn’t make out Natsu through the crowd and all he could do was drop his hands down to his sides and heave himself down from the stage.

The air was bitter and harsh against his skin, and the wind was bruising. He didn’t care. In fact, he welcomed the pain—it was nothing compared to his bleeding heart and numb hands, which refused to play anything but _that song_ ever since it happened.

“It’s a good song,”

The voice was a knife piercing the silence, and the taller boy prepared himself yet again to act like he had never seen those eyes before or kissed those lips; never held those hands or touched that skin.

“I’m glad you like it,” He choked out, turning to see the beautiful person beside him.

“Why is it the only thing you play?”

The white scarf was tugged up a bit, and the wet spots from his tears stained his hands.

“It reminds me of someone I love,”

Natsu looked down at the cement, shivering slightly.

“Did you lose that person?” His voice was shaking.

“Something like that. He’s not completely gone, though,” Gray tried his best to smile, and felt his heart lurch in his chest when the younger’s eyes rose back up to look into his again.

“It’s strange,” He said after a while of silence, “Whenever I hear the original song, I never… I… But then _you_ sing it, and I start cr—ah….”

He could see that Natsu was struggling and panting, confused, his scarf rusting in the wind and his cheeks tinted red from the cold.

“Never mind,” Natsu shrugged off the thought, and before he had the chance to stop him, the younger boy was turning away.

“I’ll see you at your next performance,”

Then he was gone, once again leaving Gray alone and nameless in the dark.


	15. Spy AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray and Natsu are awful spies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever since I've updated! I'm sorry if this one is rushed, I was desperate for something to post... Anyway, the GAJUVIA BROS ARE MAKING AN APPEARANCE! Not romantically, of course. Those dorks have the best friendship ever.

“Stripper, what’s your status?”

“Positive on the target’s location. And that’s not my code name, stupid.”

“Fine, fine, _Storm_. Are you close to headquarters?”

“Will you be patient for once, _Salamander_?”

Gray addressed Natsu jokingly, like he did most of the time, while he followed the target down the busy city street. She was faster than those he usually chased, and efficient with her time. It was obvious she suspected people were following her, but she didn’t know it was Gray. When he was on duty, no one could tell he was an undercover agent working for a high class company, run by the infamous Makarov Dreyar. To everyone on the street, including the rival assassin in front of him, he was just an ordinary guy.

“Pixie, can you remind me about the target’s background again?” Gray addressed Levy, one of headquarters’ technicians, through his earpiece.

“Sure,” Her light voice came through muffled by the sound of rustling papers, “Juvia Lockser, code named Rain Woman by her assembly, was neglected and beaten as a child. Apparently the leader of the Phantom Company tracked her down after she displayed extraordinary combat skills during a brawl on the street.”

“And after that he manipulated her into killing for money,” Gray gritted his teeth.

“Not just kill, sweetheart; _drown_ ,” Natsu decided to pipe up, “She has a fascination with water. She follows her victims for days to get to know their routine, and then sneaks in when they’re vulnerable and drowns them.”

“Any specific place?”

“Not really, and _Jesus_ , Gray, were you even paying attention at our meeting earlier?” Levy asked from the other line.

“Not really,” Gray admitted, “Not until the part where you guys told me what to do.”

“Amateur,”

“Shut the fuck up, Natsu,”

“Code names, please,” Levy cleared her throat and continued, “Miss Lockser was abused as a child, and that made her vulnerable to Jose, the man who recruited her. She’s probably just confused. If you convince her to join our ranks, then we’d have an S-class spy on our side.”

Gray smirked.

“Easy, I just have to talk to her and she’ll wanna join up with us,”

“Just be careful, okay?” Levy hung up.

“Storm, where are you? Are you near me, yet?” Natsu asked eagerly. Gray normally would’ve mocked him for that, but since this target seemed to be on a tight schedule, he just looked around to answer him.

“N—wait, actually, yes. Are you standing near that café over there?”

“Did the hair give me away? It’s always my hair, dammit.”

“’Lil bit, but shut up, we need to move.”

Natsu casually stood from his seat and moved to trail a good few meters behind Gray so he wouldn’t be associated with him. Gray could feel his eyes on his back. It was a weird feeling, but he wouldn’t change it. It was safe.

“Where’s she going?” Natsu breathed. The Rain Woman seemed to be turning to walk towards an empty alleyway. If Gray or Natsu had any bit of training, they’d know this was a big flashing red light and they should turn back immediately. They did have background training. Gray was going to turn back.

However, Natsu had other plans.

“Nat—Salamander, get back here, we’re going back!” Gray hissed as Natsu took off in front of him, running at the girl with break-neck speed.

“Not when we’re this close!” He argued. Gray gritted his teeth and groaned in frustration, but eventually knew that before anything else, he needed to protect his partner. So, he ran after him.

Natsu had ended up in the alley before Gray had; panting and standing in front of the woman with his head slightly drooped. She hadn’t turned around yet, even though it was obvious she knew he was there.

“Hey,” He addressed her then, “Can I talk to you?”

“Juvia doesn’t talk to strangers,” She responded solemnly.

“Well obviously that’s a lie, Miss Lockser,” Natsu waited for her question about how he knew her name, but it never came. She actually looked more relaxed.

“Juvia supposes,” She said.

“Well can you also suppose that I’m here for a reason?”

“Yes, Salamander,”

There was a brief pause before Natsu felt himself being thrown to the ground by a tall, spiky black haired man. He hit the concrete hard, but snapped right back up just as fast, throwing punches and cursing at himself for being reckless.

“Salamander! It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,”

It was Gajeel Redfox, also known by his codename Blacksmith. He and Juvia were partners in crime, apparently—judging by their interesting combo techniques.

“Salamander you idiot,” Gray raced into the alleyway soon after the Blacksmith’s appearance, and was greeted by a full-fledged battle.  

“Well, it’s nice of you to show up, _Stripper_ ,” Natsu put emphasis on the last word and smirked when Gray rolled his eyes.

“I couldn’t leave you hanging,”

They knew the backup plan had always been to get the fuck out of there before anyone got hurt, and while Natsu was quick to disobey orders, Gray decided it was probably better to follow them. Therefore, after the pink haired boy snuck in a few extra punches (receiving an equal amount back) and Gray awkwardly maintained eye contact with the rain woman (who ended up blushing, for whatever reason) he grabbed Natsu’s arm and bolted from the alley as fast as he’d came.

“Gray you dickhead!” Natsu tried to pry his hand away from the other’s killer grip, “We totally had them! Lemme just—“

“Nope,” Gray said, angry but also slightly amused, “And its Storm, we’re still undercover.”

Natsu huffed.

Later that night, after everyone had made sure to remind the two of how sucky they were at being spies (which to Gray responded that it wasn’t _his_ fault, but his partners), they met up in the conference room.

“You can’t be that reckless on missions,” Gray said sternly.

“Why not? I didn’t die,”

“But you do have bruises the size of my fist all over you,” He laughed, “And you could’ve died.”

Natsu playfully shoved him, running a hand through his pink hair.

“It’s not like you care either way,”

Gray smirked before turning on his heels and walking towards the door.

“I care more than you think, _Salamander_.”

 “Same here, _Storm_ ,”

He was almost gone before he heard that soft response, but he did miss seeing the blush creep onto Natsu’s face after he’d said it.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave comments and suggestions for AU's!  
> I am planning on updating this frequently.


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